The invention relates to pulling nails using hammers.
Commercial carpentry hammers often include what is referred to as a “v-claw” located on the back of the hammer head. Hammer claws are available in a variety of configurations including rip claws, straight claws and curved claws. Although these claws are able to remove a variety of nails having varying nail lengths, they are not easily adapted to remove longer nails.
Methods have been developed in an attempt to improve the ability of existing hammers to remove longer nails. One such method involves placing a block of wood under the hammer head after having partially removed the nail from the work surface. The wood serves to raise the hammer fulcrum, which then provides sufficient leverage for removing longer nails. Although this approach works in some cases, carpenters are not always in close proximity to blocks of wood and often do not have a free hand available during nail removal. This situation can arise when working on a ladder, high wall area, roof or ceiling, or when holding the work piece so that it will not fall or become damaged when the nail is removed.
A number of devices have also been developed to enable the removal of longer nails. These devices include nail pulling devices, e.g., hammers and pry bars, having multiple components, multiple claws and a variety of claw configurations. Many of the components that have been developed to enhance long nail removal are designed to attach to an existing nail pulling device. The additional components tend to increase the weight and cost of the nail pulling device and may mechanically compromise the integrity of the device during use.